


supplemental.

by Jothowrote



Series: Anthill verse [2]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: AU, Anthill verse, Everyone's an avatar, Gen, pre-patchwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-15 02:44:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14150211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jothowrote/pseuds/Jothowrote
Summary: Gertrude has work to be getting along with. The very last thing she wants is to be saddled with another useless assistant - especially so soon after the last one. But Elias Bouchard has other ideas.Prequel/extra from patchwork.





	supplemental.

**Author's Note:**

> So this AU wouldn't leave me alone. I wrote this to sort out the timeline in my head - and to profess my deep and abiding love for Gertrude Robinson.

(click)

‘Supplemental. While Prentiss’ attack was certainly… unexpected, it doesn’t seem to have left any lasting damage. Though her filth came from the walls and I was initially concerned that this may have destroyed the protections on the tunnels, Elias does not seem to have noticed them. Our secrets seem to be still hidden from the Eye.

‘I’ve asked around, at the Anthill and elsewhere, to see if anyone had known about Jane Prentiss’ apparently suicidal wish to attack the Institute. No one has come forward yet, although it is likely only her spawn would know, and they very rarely spend time with other avatars. And now that Prentiss is dead, they are a Hive without a queen. Perhaps when their inner turmoil and politics have settled down, I can ask around again with more success.

‘I am unfortunately down an assistant, and Elias seems unusually keen for me to fill the position as soon as possible. It is harder to work towards my own goals with assistants around, and while the last one was hardly perceptive, it is nevertheless… a hindrance. And if I let Elias hire them, there is always the chance he will use them to spy on me in ways he cannot himself. 

‘But that is a problem for another time.’

(click)

**

‘And the building works will be done by the end of this week?’

‘Almost certainly.’ Elias folded his hands together and looked up from his desk, his face painted with the same smug insufferable expression Gertrude knew intimately and could not _stand_.

‘Almost? Is there any way to get the process hurried along as much as possible? The noise is wreaking havoc on the recordings.’

‘It will take as long as it takes. There isn’t much else I can do.’

‘You’re paying them, aren’t you?’

‘Listen, Gertrude – I am not _wasting_ the Institute’s money on-‘

‘It’s hardly wasting the money if it enables me to do my _job_ , Bouchard.’

Something crashed in the distance; they both paused and listened as the sound of thumping footsteps and raised voices grew closer and louder. The door to Elias’ office burst open to reveal an angry looking young man on crutches, closely followed by the longsuffering Rosie.

‘… Sims, you can’t just barge in without-‘

‘I need to know what _happened_. Those things… that _woman_ … attacked us. What were they? You can’t just… just brush it under the rug, like it never happened!’

Elias was just smirking – Gertrude only just managed not to roll her eyes and took a closer look at the intruder.

He was a youngish man, probably late twenties or early thirties to Gertrude’s keen eye, but the grey at his temples and his rather staid clothes gave him an air of someone older. His legs were swathed in bandages, and the plasters over his wrist where an IV line should go indicated that he was not long out of hospital.

He was breathing heavily after his outburst, eyes wide and manic as they stared at Elias. Elias just stared right back. Rosie, behind him, wrung her hands anxiously and bit her lip.

‘It’s ok, Rosie,’ Elias said, nodding. ‘You can go.’

She did, rapidly, closing the door and leaving the panting Sims behind her.

‘You’re Jonathan Sims, aren’t you? A researcher here,’ Elias said. ‘Please, have a seat. You must be in pain.’

Jonathan Sims sat, as though in a daze. His eyes bounced between Elias and Gertrude like a caged animal.

‘This is Gertrude Robinson, our Head Archivist,’ Elias said, nodding towards her. 

‘Elias –‘

‘Don’t worry, Gertrude – I think this will be to both our advantages. Ask your questions, Mr Sims. I understand you have been through a bit of an ordeal. It is only fair you learn exactly what happened to you.’

Jonathan Sims seemed to be thrown by the ease with which he was getting what he wanted. Elias merely smiled obligingly and made a sweeping hand gesture.

‘You have questions for us?’

Sims’ mouth opened and closed a few times. Gertrude could almost see the cogs whirring in his temples.

There was something about Sims that interested her. Apart from the fact he had been determined to march right to the Head of the Institute and demand that he answer his questions, he was also _marked_. Gertrude couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt the Beholding act through someone so strongly, apart from her, Elias, and Gerard. But it wasn’t just the Beholding there – she could feel something else, something with a prior, though weaker, claim. Something that felt protective.

‘The worms…’ Sims said, finally. ‘What _were_ they? And that… that woman…’

‘Gertrude, would you like to answer Jonathan?’ Elias smiled at her, like a snake. ‘You see, Jonathan, our Head Archivist knows a lot more about these kinds of things than I do.’

Gertrude wished she could argue the contrary, but Elias was probably right. She wasn’t happy about it. Sims turned his wide eyes on her, and she sighed.

‘Jane Prentiss was infected by an entity,’ she said, plainly. There was no reason to sugarcoat it; if Elias was making her explain, then no doubt he had ulterior motives. And she was beginning to have her own – having an assistant so strongly claimed by the Beholding would be a marked step up from previous hires, and this one didn’t appear to be under Elias’ thumb as of yet. ‘She attacked the institute in order to attack the archives, although exactly why… we aren’t sure.’

‘The archives… they came out of the walls,’ Sims said. His hands flinched towards his legs.

‘Regrettably they went unnoticed long enough to infest most of the building,’ Elias said. ‘Although, I believe that _you_ were the one to break through the wall and reveal them in the first place?’

So this researcher had been the one at ground zero – Gertrude found that inordinately interesting.

Sims actually looked a little guilty.

‘Yes, I… uh… broke through the plaster. By accident,’ he clarified, hurriedly. ‘There was a spider…’

‘Thanks to you, we did not lose the institute to Filth,’ Elias said, raising his eyebrows at Gertrude.

‘I just… I want to know what happened,’ Sims said. He sounded desperate and defeated at the same time, and his face appeared to be creasing from pain. Gertrude wondered whether he had discharged himself from hospital earlier than would have perhaps been advised. The thought made her smile inwardly – it was something she could see herself doing.

‘You want to understand,’ Elias said, almost gently. ‘The answers, as I’m sure Gertrude would agree, can be found in the archives. Luckily for you, there is a job opening for an archival assistant.’

Gertrude said nothing; this was not what she would have necessarily chosen, but at least Sims had been claimed already, and was not just one of Elias’ sycophants.

‘I… are you offering me a job?’

‘More of a transfer,’ Elias said. ‘You’ll find your answers there, Jonathan.’

Gertrude sighed. 

‘Come to my office when you’re fit to work,’ she said. Jonathan Sims looked up at her, eyes wide, utterly wrong-footed and confused. ‘You’ll get your answers. Elias,’ she said sharply, turning to her smirking boss, ‘I expect the building work to be done before the end of this week. I won’t let it affect my work for longer.’

And with that, she turned abruptly on her heel and left the office.

**

(click)

‘… and this is the last of them. For now, anyway.’

‘Thank you, Jon. Is that all?’

‘Yes, I… Actually, no, it isn’t. I’ve been meaning to ask… You take statements, sometimes, directly from their source.’

‘Yes, I do.’

‘How?’

‘Well… sometimes they come in to the archives and give their statements to us.’

‘Like Jane Prentiss?’

‘Yes, like Prentiss. Some like to show off, some like to… scout out the competition, as it were.’

‘But some – you go to them, right?’

‘Rarely, but… yes.’

‘How do you _find_ them?’

‘What are you doing this Friday evening?’

‘I… uh, what?’

‘This Friday evening.’

‘Umm, nothing… what do you-‘

‘Then this Friday I’ll show you. How I find the other avatars.’

‘Oh, I see. Uh, ok. This Friday?’

‘Yes. Is that all?’

‘Yes – yeah, that’s all.’

(click)

**

‘Elias is an avatar too, right? So why doesn’t he come here?’

Gertrude sipped at her tonic and bitters and pursed her lips.

‘You know that the Distortion blocks the Eye. The Beholding can’t see into the Anthill. Elias doesn’t like the fact that he can’t watch our every move while we’re here.’

Jon frowned down at his beer.

‘But that shouldn’t stop him from coming.’

‘He is not of the Beholding in the same way that we are, Jon,’ Gertrude said, sharply. ‘You should know this by now.’

‘I… I do,’ he said, a little mulishly. ‘So he, what – doesn’t like it here because he can’t see?’

‘He’s all high and mighty, that Bouchard,’ Jude Perry said, sitting herself down at their table. Jon looked like a rabbit in headlights – usually the other avatars ignored him and only spoke to Gertrude – and he had always been wary of the Lightless flame. A few of the other cult members hovered somewhat awkwardly behind Jude, and Jon was flicking his eyes between them like he was at a tennis match.

Gertrude just stared Jude down until the other woman spoke again.

‘I was wondering what you know about the circus?’ Jude said, finally.

‘Not as much as I would like,’ Gertrude allowed, ‘but more than I should, no doubt. Why?’

She didn't compel Jude – the Anthill was neutral ground, after all, and using powers on other avatars generally resulted in an instant banning. But she knew that she hardly needs to. Jude had come to her to talk. She would answer the question regardless.

‘I’ve been approached… by Orsinov,’ Jude said.

‘Gregor Orsinov?’ Jon squeaked.

Both Jude and Gertrude rolled their eyes.

‘Nikola has been keeping quiet for a while,’ Gertrude said. ‘I had a feeling she was planning something. Are you going to join her?’

‘It works for us,’ Jude shrugged. ‘But I thought I would give you warning – it seemed only fair. The Stranger is your enemy, not mine – but you are not my enemy either.’

‘Thank you,’ Gertrude said, hiding her surprise.

Jude nodded sharply and pushed away from the table, leading her slavish band of followers back to their usual table in the corner, always faintly obscured by a haze of smoke.

‘That’s… unexpected,’ Gertrude said, sipping her drink.

‘That the circus is planning something? Or that Jude would help us?’

‘I knew the circus was laying low for a reason,’ she said. ‘But yes – Jude helping us is a welcome surprise.’

‘Does that happen often?’ Jon asked, looking a little shaken. ‘Different entities helping each other out… alliances, that kind of thing?’

‘More than you might expect,’ Gertrude admitted. ‘Much more since this place opened. I dread to think what would have happened if the Web hadn’t alerted us to Prentiss’ infestation.’

‘That was the Web?’ Jon’s mouth fell open. ‘That… that spider I tried to squash…’

‘You smashed through the wall, and released the hive, yes.’ 

‘That was the _Web_?’

One of the first tasks Gertrude had set Jon was to record his own statement. She already knew he had been marked by the Beholding before starting work in the archives – an unusual occurrence by itself – but on listening to his statement, she had been even more intrigued to discover that he had also narrowly escaped the Web’s hold as a child.

It seemed to have left Jon with a fear of spiders and a reluctance to spend time with any of the Web’s avatars, which was something he would have to get over if he was ever to reach his true potential as an archivist.

‘It is unusual for the Stranger to look for allies,’ Gertrude mused, looking around the bar. There were the usual crowds, but none of the stranger. ‘They must be planning something on a larger scale than ever before.’

Jon shivered, and looked how Gertrude felt.

‘That’s worrying,’ he said.

‘It’s something we’ll have to deal with,’ Gertrude said, and her voice sounded a lot more confident than she felt. It seemed to reassure Jon, however – the tension left his shoulders and he drank some more beer.

Gertrude wondered how Jon would cope when she went into hiding. He was still a little rough around the edges, but she wasn’t sure how long she could put it off. Elias’ determination to get her a new assistant had delayed her plans too much already, and there was only so long she could use the tunnels undiscovered.

It was late; she finished her drink and stood up to put her coat on. Jon made to do the same.

‘Stay,’ she said, with just enough force for it to be an order. Jon froze.

‘By… by myself?’

‘You need to learn how to work with the other avatars,’ Gertrude said. ‘This is the perfect place to practice. They can’t hurt you here.’

Jon didn’t look convinced, but he sat back down and stared miserably at his drink.

‘I’ll see you Monday,’ he said.

Gertrude nodded, and left him to it.

**

(click)

‘It’s nearly time.’

‘Not yet.’

‘You say that every time – not yet, not yet. You can’t put this off forever, Gertrude.’

‘I know. I told you, Elias knows something – he gave me an assistant to try and keep me here, keep me busy.’

‘I don’t know why you’re so attached to this one. How many have you lost, now?’

‘Fewer than you, Jurgen. And besides, this one is… different. I told you – he’s unusually strong with the Beholding. It’s like he was made to be the Archivist.’

‘So that makes him our enemy.’

‘No – no, it doesn’t. He’s not like Elias, not like the Eye in that way.’

‘You haven’t _told_ him about this?’

‘No, of course not. He has no idea about the tunnels, or where my loyalties lie.’

‘Then why the delay?’

‘It will be soon, Jurgen. I told you. _Soon_.’

(click)

**

It was a while before Filth’s avatars showed their faces in the Anthill again, and once they did, Gertrude recognised very few of them. She assumed that most of the old guard had long since lost themselves to the Hive or hidden away for fear of retribution after Prentiss’ ignominious failure. The newer avatars, the ones who could still look completely human, were loud and brash, all feigned confidence and bravery. One in particular caught Gertrude’s eye – one infested with the same worms that had attacked the Institute, worms that still featured in some of her more disturbing dreams.

The young man was the kind of attractive that knew how to use it. Even with the worms occasionally dripping down from his body, he seemed to have the hapless barman wrapped around his little finger. He turned a very sour look on Gertrude when she intruded on their conversation.

‘I have nothing to say to you, archivist,’ he spat.

‘That’s a pity,’ she said, ‘since I have a lot to ask _you_.’

‘I don’t know anything about Prentiss,’ he said, quickly. ‘She never deigned to share her grand plans with _me_. I was too young – too fresh. Compelling me won’t tell you anything else.’

‘That’s all I needed to know,’ Gertrude said, smiling coldly at him. ‘Prentiss was working alone. A lone gunman, as it were. Thank you, Tim.’

Tim scowled.

‘No powers allowed here,’ he said. 

Gertrude chuckled.

‘You introduced yourself to the bartender,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘I don’t need to use my powers to _hear_ , Tim.’

Tim just scowled harder. He looked like a brooding action hero, but all Gertrude saw was a petulant child.

‘Sorry I’m late,’ Jon said, breathless, behind her. ‘Sasha had some stuff she wanted me to… look at…’ 

He trailed off, looking horrified at the worm inching along the bar next to Tim’s fingers. Tim flicked it onto the floor by Jon’s feet, and Jon flinched and staggered backwards.

It made Tim laugh nastily, but Gertrude just rolled her eyes.

‘Come on, Jon,’ she said, taking her drink from the bartender. ‘I’m finished here.’

Jon seemed only too keen to get away from the worms and practically sprinted to their usual table. Gertrude followed at a more sedate pace, leaving a scowling Tim behind.

**

(click)

‘Supplemental. I’ve put it off for as long as possible. But it needs to be tonight. I’ve taught Jon as much as I can.

‘Elias let me have Jon as an assistant – let me have someone have someone competent for once – to try and bring me back under his thumb. Despite my best efforts, he almost succeeded. Jurgen was right. I should never have stayed for so long.

‘But tonight is… hello? Is someone out there?’

(static)

(click)

**Author's Note:**

> I've got a follow-on from patchwork on the go, with lots more Jon/Martin and Melanie/Sasha, so look out for that!


End file.
